Luke chapter number two. Hold your place there, please, and go to Isaiah, if you will, Isaiah 53. I just want to read one verse, and then we're going to go back to Luke and stay in Luke and Matthew for a little while. Our theme for this Christmas season here at Progress is the virgin birth. Now, you might be thinking, well, of course, preacher, it's Christmas, and Christmas is all about the virgin birth. But I said this to the church last Sunday. Think about how often you can sail right through the Christmas season. Even if you're not totally wrapped up in materialism and commercialism, it is still real easy to sail right through the Christmas season. And think about shepherds. and wise men, and we're gonna refer to them today. That's all a part of the scriptural account. But it is real easy to forget that Jesus was born of a virgin. And I, the Lord just hit me upside of the head a few weeks ago, just burdened me that we look intently at the virgin birth and the message for us 2,000 years later is that God can bring something out of nothing, that God can bring life out of death, if you will. God can give life where there's no hope of life. That's the message of the virgin birth. And that's what we studied last week, again today, Lord willing, next Sunday. very, very possibly the last Sunday of the new year. Isaiah 53, look at verse number two. This is prophetic scripture referring to Jesus. He shall grow up before him. Jesus shall grow up before God. He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and here's my phrase, as a root out of dry ground. Roots don't grow up, plants don't grow up out of dry ground. Only God can do that. Okay, and the message of Christmas for you today is plain and simply this, don't tell God what he can't do with your life. And you say, do you mean that the way it sounded? I really, really do. We are sometimes our own worst enemy saying God could never use me. Why don't we let God decide that? God could never save me. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. You say, who does that include? That includes every one of us. All of those little cherub angels up here on the steps, right? Didn't they look precious? They've got sin natures and they're mean as rattlesnakes. Take something from them that they want to keep and see how sweet they are then. Tell them no. Okay, I'm a grandpa, I can use my grandchildren for sermon illustrations. We have seven, the sweetest is number six. She came into this, Natalie's, Natalie's little girl. She was sweet from day one. Dad would just, my grumpy old West Virginia mountain dad would go, that's the sweetest baby I've ever seen in my life. And then somewhere between 18 months and two years, a demon entered into her body. She just walks around looking for somebody to snap at. Her mom and dad look at me and go, what happened? I said, you're her parents, you tell me. We were born with a sin nature. Jesus came to save us and to change us. Let him, don't say, well, I'm too bad to save, I'm too poor to save. I was born on the wrong side of the tracks. Jesus doesn't care what side of the tracks you were born on. Okay, so the message of the gospel. Look in Luke chapter two, verse number 16. Luke chapter two in verse number 16. When I stop, do me a favor. Progress, you know how to do this. The guest will fall right in line. And they came with and found Mary and Joseph, comma, thankfully for that comma, and the babe lying in the manger. There was only one in the manger. Okay, that's another message for another day, okay? So they found Mary, they found Joseph, and they found the Baaline and Major, but they came with haste. I wanted to save the title until the end of the message, but I am very convinced that as heavy as this message is on my heart, and as excited as I am to preach it, I would forget to give you the title if I waited. What are you waiting for? I doubt there's anybody in this room who denies that Jesus was born of a virgin. Obviously, we don't understand it, humanly speaking, but I doubt anybody would say that's not true. If no other reason, just you were raised that way, you'd say, the Bible says it and I believe it. My grandpa told me the Bible was right. So I'm just gonna believe what grandpa did. Jesus was born of a virgin. My question for you this morning is what are you waiting for to let that message change your life? I was talking with families before service. Well, I've been here this January, the first Sunday in January will be conclude 13 years and we'll start year 14. That means we've seen a lot of friend and family days. I've seen a lot of people come in here whose parents and aunts and uncles and coworkers were praying for them and loved them and wanted to see them in church. Here's what was on my heart as I was praying and preparing for this message. Some of you have come multiple years in a row for Friend and Family Day and Mother's Day and Easter and various events like that. And this church loves you and is praying for you. Your family loves you and is praying for you. And the question is, what are you waiting for? Why haven't you let that message change your life? You know what I'm saying? You've got enough respect to honor their invitation and come. You know what the gospel did for them. My question is, humbly, humbly, when are you gonna let that gospel message change you? Matthew's friend that he brought last year, I closed the message and I preached the gospel and I said, I'm not gonna end the message with any car wreck stories. I'm not gonna end the message with any cancer diagnosis stories to try to scare you into coming down and repeating a prayer with me. I said, I'm just gonna preach the gospel and if the gospel doesn't get the message done, I don't have anything else to go to. Matthew's friend literally cornered me. We had never met until that day. He grabbed my hand and he said, thank you for not telling car wreck stories. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, that's where somebody preaches the gospel and they decide the gospel's not enough. They then want to scare somebody into saying a prayer. Okay, and he said, thank you for not telling the car wreck story. Here's what he said, Brother PJ, I was raised on car wreck stories. He said, and me and my entire youth group made multiple professions of faith, but God never changed our life. It never got down into our heart. Our emotions were touched, but we were never changed. I want to preach the life-changing power of the gospel to you today. Would you look in Luke and Matthew? We're going to look at Matthew and Luke and back to Matthew. Would you go to the book of Matthew chapter number 1? Matthew chapter number 1. Verse number 18. I'm going to read several verses. Stay with me if you will. I'm looking at three characters today that had every reason in the world to wait. but they chose not to and they let Jesus make a difference in their life. Look in Matthew chapter 1 verse number 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise when as his mother Mary was espoused, that is more than an engagement. They were not officially married, but it was a legally binding relationship. When she was espoused to Joseph, look at this, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not willing to make her a public example, was minded, don't miss that word, to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, would you do me a favor and say the next two words? Fear not. to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. She shall bring forth a son, thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall save his people from their sins. Look at this next verse. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophets saying, "'Behold, a virgin shall be with child, "'shall bring forth a son, "'they shall call his name Immanuel, "'which being interpreted is God with us.'" That verse came from the book that I read from at the beginning of the service. Verse number 24, "'Joseph being raised from sleep, "'did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, "'took unto him his wife, "'knew her not till she had brought forth "'her firstborn son and called his name Jesus.'" Joseph had every reason in the world to wait. Joseph had every reason in the world to not believe the message. Cully, it cost Joseph personally to become a follower of Jesus Christ. Right? You can see that from the text. Here's what's going on. If you haven't spent an awful lot of time in church and just simple Bible preaching, here's what's going on. They are legally bound together. They have not had the wedding ceremony. They have certainly not consummated the relationship, but they are legally bound together. It was a binding contract and she is with child. He is such a good man. He is like, I can't put her away. That's Bible word for divorce. I'm not gonna divorce her and make a public example of her. I don't know why this has happened. And I certainly thought better of Mary than this, but I'm not going to shame her. I'm just gonna do a very private, he was gonna follow the law, the Bible. He said, but I'm not gonna do anything publicly to hurt her. And while he was getting ready to take that step, God sent him a message. He doesn't, by the way, he doesn't speak to us by angels today. He speaks to us from his word. You don't need any visions of angels. And so while he was contemplating that, God sent him a message and he said, that baby she's carrying is conceived of the Holy Ghost. He didn't understand that any better than you and I do today, but he believed it. God is not interested in your faith, God is interested in the object of your faith and that should be Him. Does that make sense? Are you with me? But here's what I want you to understand. The message is, what are you waiting for? Joseph overcame the fear of public criticism to accept Christ for who He is. I promise you there are people in this room, they believe the gospel, they believe Jesus was born of a virgin, they believe He died on the cross, but the fear of what others will say to them, think about them, yea, do to them if they step out and call on Christ keeps them from taking that step of faith and putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. And as much as I know there are people in this room who are in that situation today, I can also assure you there are several because I know their testimonies in the church family who tell us why they waited and how much they regret how long they waited. And it was the fear of what will so-and-so say? Let me tell you something. You need to forget about what somebody else is gonna say or think about it and step out and put your faith in Jesus Christ. There are also people in this room who will tell you, I waited because I was worried about what somebody would say. And when I trusted Christ, they came up and put their arm around me and said, I respect you. And I came using Joseph as my example to ask you here this morning, don't let fear of public criticism keep you from taking a step of faith and putting all of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you do, it will be the best day of your life. It will change you forever. And I promise you this, you will never regret it. Joseph overcame fear of public criticism. Go to Luke chapter two. We were there at the beginning. Luke chapter two, verse number seven. She brought forth her four-spurned son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. They were in the same country, look at it, shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were, would you say the next two words? Are you seeing a theme here? Joseph was afraid, the shepherds are afraid. How many people have let fear keep them from following Jesus? So afraid, the angel said unto them, fear not. Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. This shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth. Peace, goodwill toward men. Look at 15. As the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one unto another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. Here's my text. They came with haste, found Mary, Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. When they had seen it, they," look at the next three words, "...made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at these things." Say, Brother Raines, I see the words, fear not. But your message is, what are you waiting for? How does that fit the shepherds? The shepherds were the lowest of the lowest class in that culture. Brother Daniel, as I was praying, studying, meditating, and preparing, I thought about six, seven, eight years ago, you don't say it this way anymore. And you told us the Lord had helped you with it. for our guests, and don't say, oh, is that man embarrassed? No, no, no, we're a family here, and if I embarrass somebody, it's accidentally, not on purpose. But he has said this to this church. He said, I used to drive around, Brother Doug, in my truck, and look at Christian people and go, that's not me. And that could never be me. That's a different class of people than I am. Now God helped him with that and changed his way of thinking, saved him and changed him. But the church knows, even for a long time after he came, he would say, preacher, I don't belong here. And enough people put their arm around him and said, quit saying that, you do belong here. But I'm using that as an example. The first evangelistic people that God said, go out and tell the world that Jesus has come, was a bunch of nobodies. And they embraced the message and they said, I'm not even sure if anybody's gonna listen to us, look at us, we're shepherds, smell us, we're shepherds. How many of you ever raised hogs? There's some smells that don't get off of you. You can bathe, you can use that special soap that Sue has, and you're still gonna have a unique aroma. They're like, we are shepherds, we look like shepherds, we smell like shepherds, and they're not gonna listen to us, but there's only one problem with this. God sent a choir of angels and told us to go tell everybody that Jesus is here. They did not let the fear of the unknown. They did not know how people would respond, but yet they acted on what God, told them to do, the fear of public criticism, the fear of the unknown. There are people that will not put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ because they'll say this to me, Brother Jamie, I don't know if I can live it. Can I answer that question for you? Y'all ready? You can't. So I just took that one off the table. That excuse is not going to hold water. Why can't you? Because of that sin nature, I told you all of our little cherub angels were born with. Guess what? Their mommies and daddies and their grandmas and grandpas and their great grandmas and great grandpas were all born with it. And Ms. Tracy, none of us can live it. Not southerners. not Mainers, where her brother is serving today up in Maine. Okay, none of us can live it. All we have is the help and the hope of the Holy Spirit, this Word, and brothers and sisters in Christ to help us live for Jesus. So quit looking way down the road and going, I don't know what God's gonna do with me, and I'm afraid he's gonna tell me to tell somebody. If you won, I hope you don't play the lottery, but if you do, if you do and you win, tithe before you tell me where it came from. If you won the lottery, you wouldn't have any trouble telling anybody you just won. Everybody's going, I have never heard a lottery joke on Christmas at the church, okay? Welcome to progress. We don't mind telling people how to lose five pounds. We don't mind telling people how to save five dollars, but we can get eternal life and we get all tongue-tied. Is it time for an invitation? Are you with me? The shepherds, God said, go out and tell everybody Jesus Christ is born. And they said, we don't have any choice. We just, we went, we came with haste. There's the baby. They told us the baby was here. Here's the baby. We don't understand everything that's going on, but we're gonna tell people anyway. Don't let fear of public criticism, don't let fear of the unknown keep you from putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Go back to Matthew chapter number two. Look at verse number seven, Matthew 2, seven. Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, we've looked at Joseph, we've looked at the shepherds, let's look at the wise men. And somebody's probably thinking well enough ahead of me to go, preacher, you said your theme for this year was the virgin birth and the fact that God did something out of nothing. What you were looking at, Joseph, the shepherds, and now the wise men is their response to the virgin birth. Look at verse number seven. Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared, sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, come and bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. Listen to me, church, he's lying. He has no intention of worshiping. Verse number nine, when they heard the king, they departed. Lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them till it came and stood where the young child was. Let me make a point. They've told the wise men, go find the baby, and when you find out where he is, come and tell me, I wanna worship him too. They departed. What have they departed to do? Exactly what the king told them to do. Does that make sense? Okay, now look at what happened. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. When they came into the house, they saw the child with Mary, fell down, worshiped him, presented their treasures, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Look at 12. This is the point. This is point number three. Look at 12. Being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed in their own country. Say the next two words. What fear did they overcome? Change and the King. They did not know they couldn't trust the King, but when they left His presence and got back in tune with God, time out, some of you are listening to the wrong people. If their counsel doesn't line up with God's Word, that's not who you need to be listening to. That counsel is not going to help you. Find somebody whose counsel starts here. They left the king, an angel appeared. God sent them a message. They didn't have the complete Bible like we do today. God said, go home another way. If you go do what you're planning to do, find the baby and then go back and talk to the king. They said, you're gonna be killed. And they listened and said, this way's not working. I'm gonna live it. I'm gonna go this way. They did not let fear of change keep them from believing the message of the virgin birth. Do you know why some people probably in this room know the truth, believe the truth, respect others who adhere to the truth, but Doug won't make it theirs? Because they know Jesus changes everything. When you walk into Jerusalem without God, and you walk out of Jerusalem with God, you go in a different direction. And I promise you every lost person in this room knows that to be the truth. And I promise you there are people who would go, I know what I'm doing is not the best and I know what I'm doing is, You know, I have some bad days, but I'd rather do this, what I'm comfortable with, than do that, that I don't know. I'm not ready to change. The church family has heard this illustration before, but the Holy Spirit laid it on my heart. We were out with our home church visiting and inviting people to church and telling people about Jesus. And as the way the distribution of maps and numbers and addresses ended up, Chris and I, the one we picked was our own street. To God's glory, not our own. We had witnessed everybody on that street, many of them, some of them more than once. But Brother David, we got to a lady's house God had orchestrated us to be there that day. In the past, she hadn't had the time of day for us. That day, she was all ears. Brother David, she said, I need what y'all are talking about. I need Jesus. I need Jesus to change me. My life's a mess, and I need Jesus. I'm so glad y'all are here today. Her name was Scarlett. I said, Scarlett, here's what the Bible says. It says, turn from your sin. That's not a work that you do. It's a response to Him. It's a response to Him. And I said, you want Jesus more than sin? And you call on Him and you tell Him that you want to be born again. And Brother David, God is my witness. My wife's in the nursery. She's a witness. The minute I said, you leave the sin, you want Jesus more than sin? She stiffened. She said, what did you say? I said, this sin, this life that's tore you down and broke you down and grieves your heart and keeps you awake at night. I said, you want Jesus more than sin. John, she stiffened. She said, sin has made a wreck of my life. But this is what she said, Brother Weaver. She said, there's a couple of them that I'm really enjoying right now. And she said, Doug, Chris, I don't want Jesus more than my sin. She said, the day may come, but I'm kind of enjoying my sin right now. JD, I'm glad she was honest, but my heart breaks. And you wanna know why it breaks? Brother Jared, that was 15 years ago. She still wants her sin. Preacher Rains lives next to her, am I right? She still wants her sin. Those wise men could have stayed on the path they were on, got a warning from God and said, we're not shepherds, you're not dealing with shepherds right now, you're dealing with the wisest men in the East. You can talk to shepherds that way. You follow me? See how your Bible works? You can talk to shepherds that way. We're not shepherds, we're wise men. And we know which way to get out of town. The king, who was the leader of the free world, holding others in bondage, would have had their heads. They had already signed their own death warrant when they said, we are here to worship Him who is born King of the Jews. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death. My Bible tells me that any man who is in Christ is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men all had an immediate response to the gospel. The virgin birth so moved them, preacher Raines, that, can I say it this way, men? They turned on a dime. They're like, that's what I've needed all my life. And they embraced it. Three men, three groups of men from very different areas of life, very different backgrounds. The last 30 minutes, I said all of that to say this, what are you waiting on? Brother Doug, there's likely nobody in this room, that's the first time you've heard the gospel. That would be amazing. If I thought I was preaching somebody for the first time, I would be overwhelmed right now. That is an incredible privilege. Got to lead a Hispanic man to the Lord 15 years ago in Lancaster, South Carolina. And with his Spanish Bible, we read, yo soy la verdad, la luz, and la vida. I'm the way, the truth, and the life. And Brother PJ, by the time we got to the third one, Big old tears were falling down that cheek and dripping off his chin. And I said, don't you want the way, the truth and the life in your life? He said, si, pastor. And he called on God. To my knowledge being, it was the first time he'd heard a clear presentation of the gospel. If you've never had that privilege, can I invite you to get out of your comfort zone and go have it? And don't think you're not gonna find anybody in Western North Carolina who's never heard that message. There are people who have a good case of Southern churchianity, but they don't know Jesus. You with me? Here's my appeal. If you're not saved, what are you waiting on? If you're not right with God, what are you waiting on? What are you waiting on? Third, saved, right with God. but He's put something on your heart. There's a burden, there's a passion, there's a fire there to be more than just the Sunday go to meet and run of the meal. Amen. There's more. I got a question, what you waiting on? I'm not trying to be a comic. You ain't getting any younger. Can I tell you a personal story? 13 years ago on December 17th, Ms. Emily, 13 years ago on December 17th, the men of Progress Baptist Church met me in this little kitchen. You're gonna walk through on your way back to the dining hall God's given us. They met me in that kitchen, Brother John, Friday night, December 17th, 2010, and talked to me and asked me about being their pastor. I was young. muscular. You should have seen me. I was still in my forties. I get AARP mail all the time now. I'm toting about 30 pounds I wasn't then. Going on 14 years came and went pretty quick, Mark. I was scared to death. You talk about fear of the unknown. I'd been a second man in a ministry for years. I loved it. That's where you just float behind the scenes and put out fires for the preacher and try not to start any. I said, Lord, I really love this second man stuff. He said, there's a flock in Hendersonville, North Carolina. I want you to shepherd for me. I'm as unworthy as I was 13 years ago today, but I've never been more grateful. There's a lot of places you could have gone and sat on a pew today. You came here, and I'm thankful, and I give God all the glory. But my question is, if you're not saved, what are you waiting on? If you're saved but not right with God, what are you waiting on? If you're saved, right with God, but you know there's more in your heart that you wanna do for Him, I got a question for you, what are you waiting on? Step out today, get saved, get right with God, live for Jesus.